PRIMAQUINE ALTERS ANTIOXIDANT ENZYME PROFILES IN RAT-LIVER AND KIDNEY

The effects of primaquine treatment on antioxidant enzyme activities w ere investigated in rat liver and kidney. Male Sprague-Dawley rats wer e treated with 0.21 mg/kg daily for two weeks (chronic treatment) or a single dose at 0.21 or 0.63 mg/kg. Antioxidant enzyme activities were determined in liver and kidney cytosolic fractions whereas glutathion e (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were determined in tissue sam ples. Results for the liver showed increases in cytosolic superoxide d ismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) enzymatic activities a fter chronic primaquine treatment. Levels of MDA, a marker for lipid p eroxidation, were also increased by more than 50% indicating enhanced oxidative damage in the liver. In the single dose study, 0.63 mg/kg pr imaquine caused a more than 100% increase in liver SOD and a 36% incre ase in NAD (P) H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQOR) activities. Results fo r the kidney, however, showed fewer primaquine-induced changes in anti oxidant enzyme activities when compared to the liver in both the chron ic and single dose studies. Overall, our results indicate that primaqu ine treatment causes an oxidative stress in the two rat organs. These results are consistent with the known pro-oxidant effects of primaquin e in vivo, and supplement current knowledge on the effects of antimala rial drugs on various enzyme systems.